Obvious things conference speakers should do:
- submit a talk proposal
- take a photo/selfie
- write up bio
- give the talk
Not obvious things conference speakers should do:
- update email filter so emails from conference organizers don't end up in spam
- when traveling, plan to arrive at Talk day - 2 days, in case of flight cancellations
- show up at least 30 minutes before the talk slot, not 5 minutes before
- use light mode presentation slides (light bg, dark text)
anything else?
Adding to my list of non-obvious thing you can do as a conference speaker:
- Offer to be a backup speaker in case of other speaker's cancellation (and don't feel bad if you're not needed)
(I need to convert this whole thread into a blog post)
One more non-obvious thing for conference speakers:
- use personal email address (instead of work email) when you submit your talk to the CFP system.
Just in case your employment status change between the time you applied to speak and the time you're scheduled to speak. This assumes you still want to speak regardless of your employment affiliation.
Sometimes it's not actually easy for the organizers to change your email address on their end
@mariatta My own advice would be: use a personal address if you intend to speak for yourself, and a professional address if you intend to speak for your employer.
@sfermigier @mariatta Yeah, this is fair.
If the topic you're talking about isn't relevant if you no longer work at a place, feel free to provide your work email.
If the topic is the same/more relevant if you're no longer employed at whatever place, absolutely use personal email.
@mariatta Can confirm .. this happened to me in advance of TPRC 2023 in Toronto. Womp womp. :/
@mariatta I guess it depends on whether I speak on behalf of my employer or not. But if I do speak on behalf of my employer, and they sack me, I guess I probably won't speak at all. Fortunately this has not yet been an issue and I've so far only ever used my personal contact address.
@mariatta If the conference uses HotCRP, you can merge accounts and replace the old one with the new one as long as you know the old email address and password (even if you can’t still access that email) and any emails sent via the system will automatically go to your new email.
If the conference does not use HotCRP, then they’ve already opted in to suffering. I opt out of suffering where possible so I won’t be reviewing papers for them.